Coronavirus: Portsmouth vaccination centre on St James' Hospital site set to deliver more than 1,000 jabs a day from today

Up to eight people will be vaccinated every five minutes by staff at the St James’ Hospital site in Milton run by Solent NHS Trust.

Staff delivering the 1,040 jabs a day will be backed up each week by 334 volunteers from the Hive, Royal Navy personnel and Portsmouth’s street pastors.

Volunteers have been recruited to provide support and direct people through the process of getting their AstraZeneca jab.

All vaccinations will be given at Hamble House, formerly the Kite Unit, as it has been specifically repurposed.

Stephanie Clark, vaccination lead at Solent, told The News: ‘We have been planning the opening of the centre for around six weeks and it has been a real team effort from everyone.

‘Our staff are excited to start and there is a really great team atmosphere.

‘The Hive has been amazingly supportive and we have the Royal Navy coming in as well to do shifts and the street pastors providing support to those who perhaps feel a bit anxious about needles.

‘For people with learning disabilities or (those who) are anxious, there are single rooms so they can have a bit of extra support.’

Letters have already started being sent out to priority groups in the area.

Those who have been invited by letter will be able to use the national booking system to get a slot at the centre. They can also call 119.

People will receive a health status check and a pre-vaccination assessment before they have their jab at the centre, which will be open from 8am until 8pm, seven days a week.

Last week Portsmouth GPs were said to be feeling some ‘frustrations’ over vaccine supply and delivery.

Ms Clark said she was ‘really confident’ about their supply of the vaccine.

Latest NHS England figures show that more than 227,000 vaccinations have been now completed in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight area.

SEE ALSO: MP warns Isle of Wight residents not to visit city for Covid vaccine

This includes more than 85 per cent of over 80s receiving their first jab, and just over 16 per cent of over-80s getting their second dose.

Vaccination centres were also due to open today at Basingstoke fire station and The Riverside Centre on the Isle of Wight. Last week a centre also opened at Southampton Clinical Commissioning Group’s offices.

Dr Dan Baylis, chief medical officer at Solent, which is running all four of the large-scale vaccination centres, said: ‘We are really excited to be expanding the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

‘Covid-19 continues to be the single biggest health emergency the NHS has ever seen.

‘The vaccination is our way out of this pandemic and a return to normal.

‘The scale of vaccinations happening every day across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is thanks to the hard work and dedication of all the staff and volunteers involved.

‘We are especially grateful to our partners who are offering mutual aid to helps us vaccinate as many people as possible.’

The vaccination centre on the St James’ Hospital site can be accessed via the main entrance on Locksway Road. Marshals will be on hand to direct traffic.

There is disabled parking available at the front of the centre.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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